Film-holder



W. H. OBRIEN AND D. SIAKEL.

`FILM HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED .IULY 10.1919.

1,3376 14, Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

A Wampas manifest that to attach the end ot 'flanges is an awkward and diilicult tia-sn.

WILLIS H. @BRIEN AND DANIEL- sraiinn, or essie-non ro sain CHICAGD, ILLINOIS; SAID OBRIEN SIAKEL.

FILM-HOLDER.

nascere.

Application led July lo To @ZZ lwhom t may cof/zoem:

Be it known that we, lllrnms H. UBnmn and Eemian fmirnn, both citizens of the United States, and residents of Chicago, in the county r" Cook and State of lllinpis, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Filin-llolders, of which the following is a speciiication.

rllhis invention relates in general to reels or spools upon which strips of film, or the like, are adapted to be wound, and has more particular reference to the provision of a device for attaching the end ci the lm or strip to the reel so that the winding operation can be begun.

ln the handling of motion picture films which are wound successively trom one reel onto another, both during theprojection of the pictures andalso during the rewinding operations, it is essential to secure the initial end of the film to the reel in order that the winding` operation may be begun. lilo aware that various devices have been utilized igor securing ine end of the film the reel for this purpose, but all of these devices are awkward and unhandy to manipulate as it is necessary to insert the end or" the film under some sort of a holder attached to the wheel-hub, which necessitates introducing the hand between the langes of the reel and attaching the end of the iilrn the holding device on the hub. Since the wheel are only approximately l;- inches apart, and since these flanges are approximately l() inches in diameter, it is t ie {ilni to a holding device on the hub between the @ne of the primary objects ot our present invention is to provide a holding device by which the film end can be secured to the reel hub quickly and conveniently and without necessity of reaching in between the flanges of the reel.

During the rewinding operation the film is wound very rapidly from one reel onto anotherA and when the last of the film is unwound from a reel, the end must be released. orotherwise it will be torn off. Another object of our invention, therefore, is to provide a holding device which willnot only securely` holdthe end'ofl the ilm during the winding operation but will automatically release the film when it is unwound from the reel.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr, 20, 1920.

Serial No. 369,802.

Other objects and advantages or" our invention will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art as the same is better understood by reference to the following description when' considered in connection with the accompanyin` drawing.

iteferring to the drawings,-

Figure l is a transverse sectional view through a iilm holder embodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken longitudinally ot the hub; and

3 is a detail view of the holding device.

By reference to the drawings, it will be observed that the reel proper comprises a hub 5, usually made of sheet metal, and having a central core 6 shaped to lit over a spindie by which the reel is rotated in both the projecting and rewinding operations. At its ends the hub is rigidly attached to the 'flanges T and S between which the lilm is wound upon the hub. rThe reel thus 'tar described may be ot any usual or preferred ruction since our invention is appli-- cable to any standard or even specially constructed reels.

@ur novel holding device consists essentially of an L-s'haped member comprising heelongated portion 9 and the portion ll xtending at right angles thereto. T he portion 9 is pivotally attached to one of the ilanges, preferably iiange 8, near the marginal periphery thereof by means of a rivet l2 or other device by which the member is pivotally,secured to the flange. Villien thus mounted, the portion ll, when the main portion 9 is disposed radially of the reel, will lie in proximity to the hub 5, as shown in Figs. l and 2, and particularly the extremity thereol, since the angle between the portions 9 and ll is slightly obtuse to bring the extremity ci2 the portion ll into clampingrelation with the hub 5. The portion ll preferably made of resilient material and nerr its juncture with the portion 9 it is of reduced width. as indicated by reference l'iaracter 13, which permits the end of the portion ll to be bent inwardly or outwardly to produce the requisite clamping effect.

lWhen it is desirable to wind a film upon the reel, the holding deviceis lirst swung into position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l.. This movement may be effected without inserting the hand between the flanges of the reel as the portion 9 can be gra-sped by the fingers from the outside of the reel through the opening lll between the spolresl of the reel flange. A stud i6 projecting outwardly from the portion 9 limits the swinging movement of the holdingl device so that its end cannot assume a position outside the periphery of the reel. The end of the film 17 is now drawn across the hub 5 of the reel and when the extremity of the lm closely approaches the hub 5, the holding dcvice is swung frointhe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l to the full line position shown in this figure, thus clamping` the end of the film between the portion l1 of the holding device and the reel hub. The winding operation may now be performed, the successive convolutions of the film being disposed over the por'ion ll ofthe holding device which does not interfere in any way with the winding or unwindinp` operations.

lt will be observed that the fihn is held by a clamping action between the portion ll of the holdingdevice and the hub 5 of the ment, the portion ll is curved transversely, as will be evident from Fig. l. The clamping effect upon the film may be regulated by slightly bending` the portion ll of the holding device so as to increase or dec pressure against the reel hub as reqi..

l/Vhen in unwinding' the film from the reely which unwinding is done very rapidly a swiftly running motor, if the film end were fiXedly secured to the reel, would be torn off when the end was reached, unless the rewinding operation were slowed d c wn so that the operator could manually remore or release the film end from the reel when the film was nearly unwound. lilith our device, however, the rewindingr can be continued full speed and when the end of the `film is reached, the pull exerted upon the film will withdraw it automatically from the reel, since the holding device will swing` to release the film when the pull thereon becomes excessive. rhis release, when the parts are properly adjusted, will take place under tension less than the tensile strength of the film, so that no tearing or injury to the film is liable to occur. i

It is believed that our invention and many of its advantages will be understood and appreciated from the foregoing without further description, and while we have shown and described one preferred embodiment thereof, it is manifest that the details of construction are capable of considerable modification without departing' from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

lWe claim:

l. A film holder comprising a reel consistingV of a smooth hub provided at each end with a radial flange, and a clamping,I ,device pivoted to one of said flanges near the 70 margin thereof and adapted when swung into radial position to releasably clamp a film to the hub of said reel.

2. il. film holder comprising a reel consistino of a pair Vof parallel flanges un by a central hub,.and a holding' device prising an L-shaped member prfotz mounted on one of said flanges near circumferential m argin thereof and hav a portion projecting` in proximity to s reel-hub substantially parallel to the axis thereof to yieldably clamp a film between said device and said hub'.

3. A film holder comorisino' a reel consisting of a hub and a pair or flanges, and a holding,` device consistiirg` of an l.shaped member pivoted at one end to one of sa flanges and having a portion extendinpsubstantially parallel with and yieldingly urged toward said reel hub to yieldably andreleasably clamp a film end to said hub.

t. l film holder comprising a reel consisting` of a cylindrical hub, and a pair of flanges, and a holdino device pivoted to one of said flanges remote from said hub, comet prisingg; a portion movable about said pivot in a path parallel with said flanges past and away from said hub in either direction an adapted when disposed tangentially to s.L hub to yieldingly clamp a film between said portion and periphery of said hub.

5. fi film holder comprising a roel consisting` of a cylindrical hub and a. pair of flanges, and an l -shaped holding' device, one branch of which is pivoted at its outer end to one of said Yflanges and the other branch of which sii/ings in a path tangent to the perimeter of said hub so that a strip of li n disposed on 'd hub is yieldingly clamped between said branch and said hub as the dcl iii vice approaches said'hub in its Swingin movement. A

Vi lLLlS H. Billl. DANIEL SIAKEL. 

